Smore Project

By: Jack Farmer

Smore Project

By: Jack Farmer

Texas Revolution

Mexico gained Independence from Spain in 1824. Agents were hired to bring settlers to Texas to increase the population. Stephen F. Austin started the colony in 1822, but under the Mexican law. The Texans brought slaves, which was against the Mexican law. Then the Texans wanted independence from Mexico. At the Battle of Alamo it was General Santa Anna against the Colonel William Travis. The Texans held up for 2 weeks and then were all killed. At the Battle of San Jacinto, Santa Anna's army was surrounded at the camp and defeated quickly by Houston. Santa Anna was captured and was forced to sign a treaty that granted Texas independence from Mexico.

Manifest Destiny

The Manifest Destiny divine authority to spread across the continent to the pacific ocean. The trails west is settlers moving towards the Pacific ocean. They are moving across the continent. The train represents the people moving to the west in less time. The train also let the people bring more belonging with them, because it had more room. The covered wagon represented the people that traveled west in their covered wagons. The carriage represents that traveling by oxen or horse, they can go at their own speed. The boats in the background represents the people that traveled to the west by boat. The buffalo in the background represents them being was hunted. Also used for fur, food, clothing, fur trading with the Indians and sometimes shelter. The bear in the bottom left corner represents the king of the West. They were all over and when the Americans were moving into the west they were destroying the bears homes. So the population of the bear decreased. The deer in the front of the panting shows that the Americans hunted deer. The oxen and horses show how hard they worked for the humans. Also how helpful they can be for the Americans. The Indians are running to stand for the Americans thinking that the Indians were in their way of progress. The girl in the middle is like the angle of moving west. She is representing to see the light in moving west. The angle and God are on the same side and are helping the settlers to move west. She also stands for Columbia. The safety pins on her dress stand for how they kept their clothing together and this it was going to be improved.

Trails west

There was 4 main trails, The Oregon Trail, The California Trail, The Mormon Trail and The Santa Fe Trail. People went west to get the rich resources, the free land, the mild climate, religion and gold mines. The Oregon Trail and The California Trail were both about 2,000 miles long and took about 6 months. People went on the Oregon Trail to the Oregon Country to get free land. With rich resources and mild climate. Most people went to California to get gold in the gold mines. They could also get land with mild climate. The Mormon Trail was a trail Mormons took to get to Utah. Their leader took them there so their religion could grow in number. The Santa Fe Trail was a trading trail. They used an ancient trading route that was used by the Mormons. They traded cloth and other manufactured good for horses, mules and silver from the Mexican traders.

Mexican-America War

There was increased tension between Mexico and U.s. over involvement of Americans in Texas and California. The Bear Flag Revolt was were the Americans declared California independent of Mexico. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was for California, Nevada and Utah. The treaty let California, Nevada and Utah become states, which increased the size of the United States by 25%. The Gadsden Purchase bought Arizona and New Mexico.

Gold Rush Writing

Dear Family,

These mining camps are crazy. Everyone is trying their hardest to find gold. Everyone really wants to strike the gold. It is pretty mild out here. Its nice weather to be digging for gold. I have been working as hard as I can to search for the gold. I've been working long days with my gold pan and shovel. There are a lot of sicknesses going around. With so many people in the gold mines, people will get sick easily.